By Eric Wamanji
Every drizzle, floods Nairobi. And every deluge is catastrophic. It produces loss of life and property. It dampens our spirit and blunts the city’s competitive edges. And when it happens, social media lights up with humour, howl and disgust which rises and ebbs with the water. Then, the city awaits another certain similar tragedy.
Indeed, Nairobi has become a byword for hazard. Recent rains drained the lives of seven poor souls. Motorists got stuck in the deluge, even, can you believe it, at the Express Way – that which we thought would be one of our finest pieces of engineering.
Nairobi stares at the abyss. Unless it is reimagined and regenerated, it will end up a basket case. Soon, we will be talking of old city as new, well-planned, and managed outposts, like say proposed Northlands, carry the glory. Trouble is that these elite cities will be out of bounds for the average Nairobi, citizen like us, who will live like rats and frogs rolled in one. Nor do we have the wherewithal to build new cities like what Egypt and Indonesia are doing.
Dickensian
By its today’s formation, a city like ours is charmless, soulless, and timid. Its residents are largely disenchanted, investors livid, and visitors underwhelmed. In fact, Nairobi, as we know it, lacks anything inherent to boost the psyche of residents or to attract visitors and genuine investment. Not a good brand for a city that, not so long ago, was promising as the rising hub of and for Africa. Folks, lest we forget, cities, especially capitals, generally carry the spirit of a people. They are also a source of soft power. Nairobi? Not so much. Surely, how can it be with the infamy crown of the capital of wash-wash, sleaze, and horrible drainage almost Dickensian. That is a strategic failure.
Interestingly, pundits graciously remind us that the creation of Nairobi in its current location was an anomaly. Importantly, they authoritatively cite geography and history to justify the drainage mess. Fair enough. It’s an established fact that Nairobi was, before development, a clayish swampy locale. The Maasai called it enkare nyrobi – a place of cool waters.
Others argue, resignedly, that draining Nairobi is an impossibility considering cost and encumbrances of existing infrastructure. No one is talking of riparian lands, poor planning, budgeted corruption, horrible workmanship, and near non-existent drainage maintenance regime. No one is talking either of a massive underground collectors’ tunnel – an artificial river of sorts.
Yet, even with all that, we cannot take a reductionist, defeatist attitude as an excuse to abandon the city to drown in grime. With will and imagination, Nairobi can be reimagined, salvaged. We need investment into a robust futuristic drainage architecture. But such mega projects require solid transformative and visionary leaders.
Wonder of the Netherlands
Let us look at the Netherlands. Probably you have heard the saying that “While God created the Earth, the Dutch created the Netherlands”. And it is not for nothing. The Dutch are masters of water. Through an ingenious water engineering using dykes, canals and pumps the Netherlands created what are known as polders- the reclaimed lands. In fact, there is a recent scheme executed in the 50s called the North Sea Protection Works that pushed the sea and tamed it that the American Society of Civil Engineers describe as “Seven Wonders of the Modern World”. That is no small engineering feat.
The Netherlands tourism says of its country: “In fact, it has one of the most sophisticated anti-flood systems in place anywhere in the world.” Today, with that commitment, investment and imagination, Netherlands is a safe space and incredibly productive – almost feeding the world and supplying pleasure through its blooms. We understand that a robust city drainage system that is futuristic can be painful. But is that not better than condemning the entire city into oblivion?
It doesn’t require rocket science to know that a great city aggressively invests in its drainage. Time is now to bite the bullet. Bring in the Dutch.
Mr. Wamanji is a communication advisor. Email: wamanjipr@gmail.com X: @manjis